Walking And Tylenol Can Cut Prostate Cancer Risk

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In the first study, published Monday in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, scientists found that men who took a daily dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol) for five years had a 38% lower risk of developing prostate cancer, compared with other men. Additionally, daily acetaminophen was associated with a 51% reduced risk of developing an aggressive form of the disease. Men who took acetaminophen for less than five years saw no protective benefit.

Previous research has shown that taking aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) every day may help reduce prostate cancer risk. The authors theorize that the same may be true of acetaminophen; while not an NSAID, it does have anti-inflammatory properties.

For the study, the researchers looked at data from 78,485 men who participated in the longitudinal Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, answering questions about diet and drug use every two years starting in 1992. During the follow-up, there were 8,092 cases of prostate cancer — significantly fewer in the group who took acetaminophen daily for five years.

The second study, published online Tuesday by Cancer Research, involved 1,455 men who had already been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Harvard School of Public Health followed the men from 2004 to 2009 and found that those who engaged in regular brisk walking after diagnosis were significantly less likely to see their disease progress.

Men who walked briskly — at a pace of about 3 miles per hour or faster — at least three hours per week were 57% less likely to experience disease progression (including elevated PSA levels, secondary treatment, bone metastasis or prostate cancer-related death), compared with men who walked less and more slowly.

"The important point was the intensity of the activity," Erin Richman, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, said in a statement. "The walking had to be brisk for men to experience a benefit."
The researchers said the effect of brisk walking persisted independent of age, diagnosis, type of treatment and characteristics of disease. The patients' average age at diagnosis was 65. The findings are in line with previous research suggesting that physical activity may help reduce the risk of disease-related death in certain cases of prostate cancer.

Why the association? MedPage Today reports:

Richman and colleagues noted that the brisk walks may reduce insulin resistance, which decreases bioavailable insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) and increases adiponectin levels, which are all associated with decreased risk of advanced or fatal prostate cancer in vitro and in vivo.

Another potential source of the associated reduction was reduced inflammation due to a lower circulation of interleukin-6, high levels of which "predicted a 73% increased risk of dying from prostate cancer among normal-weight men," the researchers wrote.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 32,050 men died from prostate cancer in 2010 and 217,000 new cases were diagnosed. More than 2.2 million men in the U.S. are living with prostate cancer.

Drinking Coffee Can Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk

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(NaturalNews) Imagine this scenario: drug company researchers make an amazing discovery. It's a remarkable therapy that's easy to take, has few serious side effects and reduces the risk of a man developing any kind of prostate cancer. Most importantly, it dramatically lowers the odds a man will ever have the most serious, deadly form of the disease.

Can you fathom the enormous money-making possibilities of such a discovery for Big Pharma? Can anyone even predict how many millions of prescriptions would quickly be written for men who would be willing to pay any price to prevent prostate cancer?

In breaking research news, it turns out that scientists actually have found a substance that appears to prevent prostate cancer, especially the most lethal variety, by a whopping 60 percent. But fortunately for men -- and unfortunately for Big Pharma -- the cancer preventative isn't a drug. It's a natural plant-based drink: plain old coffee.

That's right. The results of a large, new study show that men who regularly drank coffee had a lower risk of developing any prostate cancer, especially the kind most likely to kill. The new research, conducted by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) scientists, was just published in the online edition of the Journal of of the National Cancer Institute.

Of course, if you drink too much caffeinated coffee, you can feel anxious, jittery, have difficulty falling asleep at night and even have heart palpitations. And should you abuse java by gulping down cup after cup of the stuff to keep working or playing when your body needs a rest, you might end up exhausting your adrenal glands, too.

But in moderation, coffee is not only safe for most people but may be beneficial. For example, scientists have found there is something in this ancient and natural drink that may protect against a host of ills, including Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, liver cancer and cirrhosis. As NaturalNews recently reported, research shows drinking coffee may also help protect women from breast cancer.

The Harvard scientists decided to study coffee because it contains natural compounds that are known to act as antioxidants, reduce inflammation, and regulate insulin --- and all of these health benefits are believed to play a role in reducing the risk of prostate cancer.

Earlier research has already provided evidence coffee could play a role in prostate cancer prevention. However, only a few studies have specifically looked at the association between coffee intake and the risk of lethal prostate cancer, the form of the disease that is the most critical to prevent because it spreads to the bones and causes death.

"Our study is the largest to date to examine whether coffee could lower the risk of lethal prostate cancer," said senior author Lorelei Mucci, associate professor of epidemiology at HSPH, in a statement to the media.

The research team investigated the association between regularly drinking coffee and the risk of prostate cancer, especially the risk for aggressive, lethal prostate cancer, in 47,911 U.S. men who participated in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The research volunteers reported their coffee consumption every four years from 1986 to 2008. During that time, 5,035 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, including 642 fatal or metastatic cases.

The HSPH study concluded that the men who drank the most java (six or more cups each day) had a 20 percent lower risk of developing any form of prostate cancer when compared to non-coffee drinkers. What's more, it didn't appear to matter if the coffee was decaffeinated or regular.

Just drinking one to three cups of coffee daily lowered the risk of the deadly form of disease by 30 percent. And men who drank the most coffee saw their risk of lethal prostate cancer plummet by 60 percent.

The Harvard researchers are currently planning additional studies to understand more about the health benefits of coffee. They want to zero in on the specific mechanisms by which coffee provides such a huge reduction in the risk of the deadliest form of metastatic prostate cancer.

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Pancreatic Cancer - Silent And Deadly

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Note: Although there are more than 300 natural cures for cancer, it's still a good idea to know what the symptoms are if you develop them. 

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Cancer of the pancreas is an especially serious form of cancer, in part because pancreatic cancer symptoms are hard to notice. Overall, fewer than 4 percent of people with the most common type of pancreatic cancer survive.

Your pancreas is a 6-inch-long organ that lies deep within your abdomen, between your stomach and spine. Your doctor cannot feel small tumors growing in it while examining you. Early in its development, the cancer doesn't cause symptoms. When pancreatic cancer symptoms do show up, you may think some other ailment is causing them.

The only way to control pancreatic cancer is to remove it via surgery before it spreads to other organs. However, most people don't have symptoms before this point. Also, the precise cause of pancreatic cancer remains unknown, although there are some risk factors associated with the illness. Detection, then, becomes key.

Being able to detect pancreatic cancer symptoms plays a big role in your chance of survival. In people with small cancers found only in the pancreas, a successful surgery provides about an 18 to 24 percent chance of surviving five years.
 
Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms

According to Elizabeth Poplin, MD, a cancer specialist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, pancreatic cancer is usually "silent," but it can cause noticeable symptoms.

These include:

• Back pain. Since the pancreas is so close to the spine, a tumor growing on the pancreas can press on nerve roots next to the spine, causing pain in the middle back, Dr. Poplin says. Pain may be steady or on-and-off, according to the American Cancer Society. The pain may show up first in the upper abdomen, radiate straight back, and be made worse by eating. However, most people's back pain is caused by some other problem.

• Jaundice. Sometimes people with pancreatic cancer will first go to the doctor when they develop jaundice, which causes the eyes and skin to turn yellow. That's because the liver creates a brownish substance, called bilirubin, that goes to the small intestine through a tube called the common bile duct. The wider end, or the "head," of the pancreas is next to this duc

If a tumor grows in the head of the pancreas, it may press on the bile duct, preventing the bilirubin from reaching the intestines and causing bilirubin levels to increase in the body. The excess bilirubin leads to the yellowing of the skin as well as itching.

Sometimes jaundice may occur as the result of a small tumor in the pancreas head, thus providing an early warning. However, if the cancer develops elsewhere in the pancreas, it won't cause this symptom as quickly.

• Weight loss. Pancreatic cancer symptoms can include a decreased appetite, a feeling of early fullness, and weight loss when you weren't trying to lose weight.

• Fatigue. You may also have less energy if you have pancreatic cancer.

• Stool changes. The blockages of the common bile duct can cause your feces to look different. According to the ACS, the stool may be pale and greasy, and it may float on the surface of the water in the toilet.

If you and your doctor think you may have pancreatic cancer symptoms, your doctor will check your skin and eyes for jaundice and feel your abdomen for warning signs around your pancreas and nearby organs. You may also have blood and urine tests to measure bilirubin. If your common bile duct is blocked, you'll probably have more bilirubin in your blood and urine.

Remember, as is the case with most cancers, pancreatic cancer has the best prognosis when found in its earliest stages. Talk to your doctor if you notice any new or unusual symptoms. Taking action early could mean the difference between life and death.

By Eric Metcalf, MPH

Diabetics At Risk For Cancer Death

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By TARA PARKER-POPE

Diabetes has long been associated with a host of serious health problems, including increased risk of vision loss, kidney problems, heart attack and stroke. Now a growing body of research shows that diabetes also increases risk for deadly cancers.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute collected diet, lifestyle and health data from 500,000 people ages 50 to 71 and followed the patients for 11 years. They found that having diabetes was associated with an 11 percent increased risk of dying from cancer among women and a 17 percent increased risk of cancer death among men.

Having diabetes not only increased risk for dying from cancer, but people with diabetes were, over all, more likely to be given a cancer diagnosis as well.

“It’s well known that there are a lot of benefits from avoiding diabetes,’’ said Dr. Neal D. Freedman, investigator in the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the National Cancer Institute. “Our study, along with others, suggests that there may be additional benefit in terms of reduced morbidity and mortality from cancer.”

The researchers found diabetes was associated with a higher overall risk for colon, rectal and liver cancers among both men and women. In women, diabetes was most strongly associated with a higher risk of stomach, anal and endometrial cancers. In men, diabetes was most likely to raise risk for pancreatic and bladder cancers, according to the report, presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Over all, women with diabetes were 8 percent more likely to develop cancer. The findings were more complicated for men. Men with diabetes were 4 percent less likely to get a cancer diagnosis, but that number was skewed by the finding that diabetes lessened the risk of prostate cancer.

Research has suggested men with diabetes are less likely to develop prostate cancer as a result of having lower testosterone levels. However, most prostate cancers aren’t fatal, so the negatives of having diabetes far outweigh any protective effect the disease might have on prostate cancer. When prostate cancer was excluded from the data, the research showed that for men, having diabetes was associated with a 9 percent increased risk of a cancer diagnosis.

Although earlier research has also suggested that diabetes increases cancer risk, the new study is important because of its large size and years of follow-up. The study did not distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, so it’s not clear if the heightened cancer risk is the same for the different forms of diabetes.

Acute Radiation Sickness (ARS) - Signs and Symptoms

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By Dr. Nancy Snyderman Chief medical editor

NBC News NBC News

As we watch the nuclear crisis escalate in Japan, many of us have questions on radiation sickness — what are the symptoms and what are the long-term health effects? And should those of us in the U.S. be taking any extra precautions? NBC's chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman explains.

Q: What are the main symptoms of radiation sickness?
 
A: Radiation sickness (acute radiation syndrome, or ARS) occurs when the body is exposed to a high dose of penetrating radiation within a short period of time. The first symptoms of ARS typically are fatigue, hair loss, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as skin changes such as swelling, redness, itching and radiation burns. Symptoms may present within a few minutes to days after the exposure, and may come and go. This seriously ill stage may last from a few hours up to several months.

Q: How much radiation does there have to be, and how long do you have to be exposed, to cause health problems?
 
A: Most studies on radiation and cancer risk have looked at people exposed to very high doses of radiation. Consequently, it is harder to measure the much smaller increase in cancer risk that might come from much lower levels of radiation exposure. Some scientists and regulatory agencies believe that even small doses of ionizing radiation may increase cancer risk, although by a very small amount. The rule of thumb is that the risk of cancer from radiation exposure increases as the dose of radiation increases. Since everyone’s body is different, there is no definitive threshold dose at which you can be totally safe.

Q: Is soap and water really enough to get radiation off you?
 
A: Any person with contamination on their clothing or body should remove their clothes and shower. Soap and water can go a long way toward minimizing absorption through the skin and keeping local contamination from spreading.

Q: What are the long-term health consequences of radiation exposure?
 
A: Cancer is the most common long-term consequence of radiation exposure. Your bone marrow and your thyroid gland are especially sensitive to radiation. Research shows that some cancers types are more strongly linked to radiation exposure. These cancer types include leukemia, thyroid cancer, multiple myeloma, in addition to skin, lung, stomach and breast cancer.

Young children are very vulnerable to the long-term effect of radiation because their cells are actively dividing as part of normal growth and development. Fetuses are also particularly susceptible to the effects of radiation, and mutations can occur if the radiation exposure happens during the early pregnancy. History shows us that genetic mutations can occur in adults exposed to nuclear radiation. These mutations can sometimes be passed from parent to child.

Q: If the Japanese power plant continues to spew radiation and the wind blows it out to sea, how concerned should we be in the U.S. for our own safety?  
A: Not concerned because the amount of radiation is low and any residual will be dissipated by the jet stream before it hits the coast of California.

Q: Iodine tablets are selling out in America; should we be stocking up? Are there any other steps we should take in the U.S.?  
A: There is absolutely no need to panic and right now and there are no special steps that experts are recommending. After a nuclear event, local public health or emergency management officials will tell the public if they should be taking potassium iodide or if other protective actions are needed. Remember, iodine prophylaxis is not one size fits all. If you have a seafood or shellfish allergy, a thyroid condition or certain skin disorders, you should not take potassium iodide before consulting with your doctor.

Cervical Cancer - Causes And Symptoms

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What causes cervical cancer?

Most cervical cancer is caused by a virus called human papillomavirus, or HPV. You can get HPV by having sexual contact with someone who has it. There are many types of the HPV virus. Not all types of HPV cause cervical cancer. Some of them cause genital warts, but other types may not cause any symptoms.

You can have HPV for years and not know it. It stays in your body and can lead to cervical cancer years after you were infected. This is why it is important for you to have regular Pap tests. A Pap test can find changes in cervical cells before they turn into cancer. If you treat these cell changes, you may prevent cervical cancer.

What are the symptoms?

Abnormal cervical cell changes rarely cause symptoms. But you may have symptoms if those cell changes grow into cervical cancer. Symptoms of cervical cancer may include:

• Bleeding from the vagina that is not normal, or a change in your menstrual cycle that you can't explain.
• Bleeding when something comes in contact with your cervix, such as during sex or when you put in a diaphragm.
• Pain during sex.
• Vaginal discharge that is tinged with blood.

How is cervical cancer diagnosed?

As part of your regular pelvic exam, you should have a Pap test. During a Pap test the doctor scrapes a small sample of cells from the surface of the cervix to look for cell changes. If a Pap test shows abnormal cell changes, your doctor may do other tests to look for precancerous or cancer cells on your cervix.

Your doctor may also do a Pap test and take a sample of tissue (biopsy) if you have symptoms of cervical cancer, such as bleeding after sex.

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Natural Cancer Remedies - Eggplant Cures Cancer!

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There are so many natural remedies for cancer, more than three hundred, and others are popping up every day. I talk about this in my book The Only Answer To Cancer. I really enjoy finding new information online and wanted to share this article with you. 

by Melanie Grimes
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(NaturalNews) An ingredient in common eggplant has been shown to cure cancer. The eggplant extract is a phytochemical called solasodine glycoside, or BEC5. Dr. Bill E. Cham discovered it, after hearing of a folk medicine cure from Australian farmers. They told him of eye cancers cured in cattle after application of a poultice made from the fruit of a weed called Devil's Apple, known in Latin as Solanum linnaeanum. This plant is part of the Solanacea family, which includes other common vegetables such as tomato and eggplant.

BEC5 works by bonding to a receptor on the surface of the cancer cell. After the cell digests the eggplant extract, it causes the cell to rupture. The cancer cell is destroyed and its contents are then reabsorbed by the body.

BEC5 has been proven effective in treating over 80,000 cases of skin cancer, preventing surgery. The types of cancer treated by eggplant are both invasive and non-invasive non-melanoma skin cancers. In every case the cancers went into remission and did not return. Australians have been curing their skin cancers using these phytochemicals for decades.

BEC5 acts by killing cancer cells without harming any other healthy cells in the human body. BEC5 can also be used to treat actinic keratose, the precursor to cancer, as well as age or sunspots on the skin.

Actinic keratoses are a possible predictor of skin cancer. These red patches caused by sun exposure are made of abnormal cells that can mutate into malignant cells in the basal, or lower layers of the skin. Squamous cell carcinomas are another common form of skin cancer, and one which causes nearly two thousands deaths annually. This wart-type growth has irregular borders and can also be treated with the eggplant extract.

Used as a cream for over twenty-five years in clinical trials in both Australia and the United Kingdom, BEC5 had success rate of over 78% when applied for eight weeks. Used for 12 weeks, the cream had a 100% success rate in removing cancers, none of which returned for the following five years.

Over one million new cases of non-melanoma skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the United States alone. Skin cancer is now the most common illness in men over the age of 50. It is even more common than lung, prostate or colon cancer. Incidences are so common that one out of three Caucasians are now expected to develop skin cancer at some point in their lives. With this simple, natural remedy, many surgeries might be prevented and health restored.

http://ahha.org/SkinCancerCure.htm

http://www.lmreview.com/articles/eg...

http://www.skincancer.org/

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/lrn/l...

About the author

Melanie Grimes is a writer, award-winning screenwriter, medical journal editor, and adjunct faculty member at Bastyr University. She also teaches homeopathy at the Seattle School of Homeopathy and the American Homeopathic Medical College.
A trained homeopath, she is the editor of the homeopathic journal, Simillimum, and has edited alternative and integrative medical journals for 15 years. She has taught creative writing, founded the first Birkenstock store in the USA and authored medical textbooks.
Her ebook on Natural Remedies for the Flu is available at:
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Natural Cancer Cures - 3 Ways To Prevent Cancer

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Did you know that there are natural cancer cures? Despite what you have heard from your doctors, friends, and the mainstream media, there are natural cancer cures that exist today. Many people believe that the only way that they can cure cancer is through radiation, chemotherapy, or surgery. In this article I will discuss 3 natural cancer cures that are proven to prevent and eliminate cancer once and for all.

Natural Cancer Cure #1: Detoxification

If you want to prevent and eliminate cancer then you must detoxify your body. Detoxification is a process by which you cleanse your body. Everyday our bodies are bombarded by harmful toxins. We ingest these toxins through water, the air we breathe, and the food that we eat. What you need to understand is that these toxins are poisonous to the body. To be honest, it is virtually impossible to prevent and cure cancer without detoxifying the body. There are several cleanses that you can do to get rid of the toxins: a colon cleanse, a parasite cleanse, a liver cleanse, a kidney cleanse, and a full body fat cleanse. You can find products that will help cleanse your body on the internet or in your local health food store.

Natural Cancer Cure #2: Drink Green Tea Daily

If you are serious about preventing and eliminating cancer then you need to drink 3-5 cups of green tea daily. Personally, I prefer to drink green rather than soft drinks. Make sure you purchase organic green tea because it is not sprayed with harmful chemicals. Studies show that green tea contain powerful antioxidants that can neutralize free radicals in the body. Free radicals can destroy the DNA of the cells; this causes cancer to form.

Natural Cancer Cure #3: Raise Your Body PH


The last natural cancer cure that I will discuss is body ph. Dr. Otto Warburg won a Nobel Prize in 1931 for discovering that cancer cells are anaerobic. Anaerobic mean that they cannot survive in an alkaline environment. A body ph of 0-6 is acidic. A ph of 7 is neutral. A ph of 7-14 is alkaline. Cancer cells thrive in an acidic environment but they die off when the body ph is alkaline. You can raise your body ph by eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Another thing that you can do is put about 5-10 drops of ph booster into the water or beverage that you drink. This will raise your body ph and create an environment in your body where cancer cannot exist. Cancer cells in an alkaline body are like a fish out of water.

Do you want to learn about more natural cancer cures? Visit the following link and you'll be taken to a video presentation where you will learn about a new cancer discovery that has helped over 10 million patients to successfully cure cancer.
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Difference Between Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma

Many people ask this question, to which the answer is both simple and complex. Mesothelioma is often talked about as though it is a form of lung cancer. It is not. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the mesothelium, the lining or membrane, around an organ, such as a lung, abdomen, or the heart. Mesothelioma is a diffuse malignancy. It invades a tissue area as a large number of interlocked tumors and the boundaries between malignant tissue and healthy tissue are blurred and, eventually, dissolved. This is the primary reason that mesothelioma remains so difficult to treat. The large extent of malignant tissue makes complete surgical resection very difficult.

While lung cancer works differently. It arises within the lungs themselves and is characterized by individualized tumor masses. Even for people with multiple masses, the tumors generally possess clear boundaries. The tumors can grow quite large and in its late stages and most aggressive forms,  Lung cancer involves the lung tissue and airways, which is contained entirely within the pleural lining and does not involve the pleura. Where other organs are involved the mesothelial lining has other names, such as peritoneum for the mesothelial lining of the peritoneum (abdominal cavity), and pericardium for the lining around the heart. Lung cancer is just as deadly as mesothelioma. However, it is much more amenable to treatment than mesothelioma is.

There are other differences between lung cancer and mesothelioma as well. While asbestos exposure is a causative factor for both disorders, it is the only known cause of mesothelioma while lung cancer can be caused by other agents—including cigarette smoking.

So the differences is clear now. Mesothelioma is a cancer that occurs in this lining. It is caused by asbestos being inhaled into the lungs. From their, the asbestos fibers are absorbed into the body. How exactly they get into the mesothelium is unknown, but they clearly due. Mesothelioma can spread throughout the entire body core or remain in a particular area. If caught very early, treatment options exist. If caught late, it is rarely survived.

So, how do Mesothelioma and lung cancer get confused when it comes to asbestos exposure? Well, Mesothelioma often occurs in the mesothelium lining around the lungs. Although not technically lung cancer, once can see how the two would get confused. Still, it is important to remember that each is unique and calls for different treatments.

The Relationship Between Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma

Lung cancer is the most common cause of death due to cancer in both men and women throughout the world. Lung cancer is a result from an abnormality of cells in the body. Lung cancer is sometimes called "bronchogenic cancer," or it may be described by its particular histologic type, that is the type of tissue that is diseased.

Lung cancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly; almost 70% of people diagnosed with lung cancer are over 65 years of age, while less than 3% of lung cancers occur in people under 45 years of age.

Everybody knows that cigarette smoking is the most closely related link to developing lung cancer. As a matter of fact, the earlier one begins smoking and the higher the number of cigarettes one smokes, the higher the chances of getting lung cancer. Exposure to asbestos, radiation, and pollution are also some of the other causes of lung cancer.

Asbestos exposure is one of the cause of lung cancer and mesothelioma.  Asbestos is a bunch of naturally occurring minerals that are resistant to fire and chemical substances. They are fibrous mineral forms of impure magnesium silicate and located in fire-proofing materials, electrical insulation, cement, shingles, acoustic and decorative ceiling plaster, and additional construction materials. When repairing, removing, or disturbing asbestos-containing supplies, tiny asbestos dust will be dispersed into the open air. Asbestos separates into fine silica fibers that become trapped in the tissues of the lungs. 

Mesothelioma is inextricably linked to asbestos exposure. There are no reported cases of mesothelioma in people who were not exposed to asbestos either in the workplace or through their environment. 

Mesothelioma Peritoneal Treatment

Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare form of asbestos cancer that is extremely difficult to diagnose and treat, and which in most cases, leads to death. 

People diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma usually first see their doctor with a symptom for abdominal swelling. There are another possibility caused of abdominal swelling besides peritoneal mesothelioma, such as cirrhosis of the liver. It can take some time and a battery of medical tests to correctly identify peritoneal mesothelioma. 

Once the peritoneal mesothelioma is correctly diagnosed, it is difficult to predict how aggressive it will be in an individual patient, because this variant of mesothelioma has shown a wide spectrum of behavior. A patient may have recurring and severe bouts of lower abdominal pain, or not. The cancer could also metastasize from the peritoneum to lymph nodes. 

A peritoneal mesothelioma diagnosis is difficult at best. After confirming a history of asbestos exposure the doctor will run numerous tests to confirm or deny the suspicion of peritoneal mesothelioma. The first of these tests usually involve imaging of the suspected site. Traditional x-rays can be used to check the abdominal cavity for suspicious growths but MRIs and CT scans will offer a more detailed view.

Localized treatments treat only the original cancer site by either surgery or radiotherapy. When peritoneal mesothelioma is detected early on,  a peritonectomy surgery would help. However, the symptoms are usually detected only in the most advanced stages because of the gradual development of symptoms. Complete removal of the caner through surgery is doubtful even in the earliest stages of the disease. The first 30 days following surgery are crucial. Unfortunately, the post surgery death rate for this operation is very high. Many patients do not make it through the procedure. With this in mind, many medical centers do not choose surgery as a viable treatment option plan at this time.

When the cancer is still localized at its point of origin, doctor may will undergo regional chemotherapy . This option treatment is employed in both early and late stages of the disease using anti-cancer drugs. The drugs are injected directly into the abdomen. Patients undergo weekly or biweekly treatments depending upon the specific drugs used.

A second type of treatment known as systemic treatments are used when the cancer has metastasized. Systematic treatments are implemented in either earlier stages or late stages of peritoneal mesothelioma.

Since peritoneal mesothelioma often remains dormant for years, the cancer is usually detected in its end stages. At this point patients are too ill to handle intensive chemotherapy. Doctors choose non-aggressive palliative care treatments at this time. Treatment goals are concentrated on remedying pain, discomfort and weight loss rather than attacking the disease head on. One type of pain common in the late states of this disease is caused by fluid buildup inside the abdomen. Doctors will attempt to reduce the pain and discomfort by draining the excess fluid through a procedure called abdominal paracentesis.

3 Types of Asbestos Lung Disease

The chances of asbestos lung disease were raised by 700% compared to people who are not exposed theasbestos. An increasing number of people are found to be afflicted with lung cancer in the recent years. A careful look shows that many of these lung diseases that people have are directly related to asbestos.

There are 3 main types of asbestos-related lung illness. The first is Asbestosis, second is disease in the lung lining (pleura) and the third one is the lung cancer. We will differentiate these three types of lung diseases. Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the tissue of the lungs caused by inhalation and severe exposure of asbestos. In short, is a widespread scarring in the lungs.

The second type of lung disorder caused by asbestos is the disease on the lung lining or in medical terms, it is called pleura. This disease shows signs and symptoms resulting in the hardening or thickening of the tissue lining.

The last is the lung cancer which is either located in the internal portion of the lungs or the outer lining (pleura).

Peritoneal Mesothelioma - Cause, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Peritoneal mesothelioma is the name given to the cancer that attacks the lining of the abdomen. This type of cancer affects the lining that protects the contents of the abdomen and which also provides a lubricating fluid to enable the organs to move and work properly.

Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is an extremely rare cancer. Only 100 to 500 cases are diagnosed in the US each year, making up less than 30% of all mesothelioma cases. According to the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database, these diagnoses are approximately 54.7 per cent male versus 45.3 per cent female, with the median age being 65-69. The latency period appears to be shorter for asbestos exposured individuals with symptoms appearing 20-30 years after exposure rather than the 30-40 year latency more commonly associated with pleural mesothelioma.

Like in the case of all types of mesothelioma, asbestos is considered to be the main cause for peritoneal mesothelioma. Asbestos can be fatal for the body and can also cause cancer along with other severe diseases.

Asbestos dust causes significant harm when it enters into the body. The dust may enter the body in two ways.

Firstly, it can enter the body through the lungs during breathing. In this case the dust travels through the lymph nodes and reaches the peritoneal cavity. Secondly, it can enter due to involuntary ingestion while working with asbestos.

It can also occur due to the passive inhalation of asbestos dust. This is called Tail Piece Passive exposure. The clothes of a worker who works amidst asbestos traps the dust between the layers of fabric. When these clothes are washed, or used by another person, the asbestos dust enter into that person's body.

Peritoneal mesothelioma has two clinical types which can be differentiated with the help of CT findings, the "dry" type and the "wet". It is classified as "dry" when there are multiple tiny masses or one dominant localized mass and generally little or no ascites. The "wet" type has widespread small nodules, no dominant mass and a presence of ascites.

If fluid is found, the process of eliminating it is through paracentesis; however the analysis of this fluid has limited diagnostic significance. Normally, a definitive diagnosis may be obtained through tissue biopsy.

As there is currently no staging system for peritoneal mesothelioma, the most popular system for general cancer staging (TNM system) is used. TNM system has the following criteria: (T) status of the tumor, (N) lymph nodes and (M) metastases. Other general categories may also be helpful in order to determine the stage.

Category 1 - with a localized lesion that can entirely be removed (resected)

Category 2 - the disease is located inside the abdominal cavity on peritoneal or organ surfaces where there is a probability of removing as much tumor as possible (debulking)

Category 3 - the disease is located inside the abdominal cavity and invades organs such as liver or colon.

Category 4 - the disease extends outside of the abdominal cavity

Mesothelioma doctors may suspect peritoneal mesothelioma if the patient complains of stomach, chest, or abdominal pain. Suspicious hernias may actually be a pleural effusion caused by peritoneal tumor growth. Misdiagnosis is common and patients will likely undergo multiple imaging scans and a diagnostic biopsy before an official diagnosis is made.

Diagnostic procedures in which fluid is extracted from the peritoneum for lab testing are the only way to conclusively diagnose peritoneal mesothelioma. Samples will be examined for the presence of malignant cells. Once malignant cells are detected, further testing will be needed to classify these cells as malignant mesothelioma.

Diagnosing peritoneal mesothelioma is very difficult, and cases of peritoneal mesothelioma misdiagnosed or undiagnosed are unfortunately not uncommon. It is important to share your case history of work experience (especially in shipyards and at construction sites) and asbestos exposure potential with your physicians if you feel mesothelioma is a risk. Asbestos fibres can also be carried into the home on clothing, inadvertently exposing the deadly fibres, and the risk of mesothelioma, to family members.

In addition to determine a diagnosis, many diagnostic test also help determine the stage the cancer is in, providing a better idea of a patient's prognosis. The chance of recovery depends on the size of the cancer, where the cancer is, how far the cancer has spread, how the cancer cells look under the microscope, how the cancer responds to treatment, and the patient's age. Peritoneal mesothelioma is usually diagnosed when it has had time to advance; as with most types of cancer, early diagnosis is an excellent first step in fighting the disease.

The treatment options available for the patient of peritoneal mesothelioma include:

1- Radiotherapy (using radiations to destroy cancer tumor)
2- Chemotherapy (injecting medicine directly to damaged part for instant and deep affect)
3- Surgery (removing affected parts completely)

In some cases radiotherapy is used to shrink the cancer tumor before surgery and then chemotherapy is applied to inject medicine directly into peritoneum after surgery. In this way combination of treatment options can be applied to destroy the cancer tumor and to stop the process of cancer cell proliferation.

Many patients, however, are not good candidates for surgery since mesothelioma has often spread too extensively or because the patient’s general health is too poor to cope with the stress of surgery. These patients may elect to participate in palliative treatment options that do not attempt to cure a patient, but work to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for peritoneal mesothelioma patients.

There are many treatments for mesothelioma but no single treatment is capable of curing the patient single handedly. Doctors therefore take a multimodality approach. It means that a combination of many treatments are used instead of a single treatment. There are several factors that determine the type of combination of treatments to be used, and it varies from case to case.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma : What everyone should know about this

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a cancer which arises from the mesothelial cells found within the pleural membranes that cover the lungs. This cancer is one of the rarest in the world. It only manifests in people who are constantly exposed to large amounts of asbestos dust.

Mesothelioma or cancer of the lung lining is different from lung cancer. This lining is called mesothelium and that is the reason why the condition is termed as Mesothelioma. The Mesothelioma life expectancy is much less than that of lung cancer.


The majority of malignant mesotheliomas occur in people who have been exposed to asbestos, either directly or via people they live with. Malignant mesothelioma is relatively uncommon compared to other tumours. Most of the three thousand such cases reported in the United States every year are malignant. Australia has the highest incidence of mesothelioma in the world, at 40 cases per million people. Other industrialised countries which have mined and used asbestos, have similar but slightly lower rates of disease.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma goes through four separate stages. Initially it is restricted to the pleura, the membrane in the thoracic cavity. Next the lymph nodes are affected. In the third stage there would be local spreading of the disease. Finally the cancer penetrates to other parts of the body. Often, death strikes within six to eighteen months of diagnosing the disease depending on the stage at which the problem was identified.

The symptoms of this cancer take a very long time before appearing. Sometimes, it will take as long as twenty to fifty years before you even realize that something is from. And by that time this happens, it will probably be too late for treatment. Depending on the location of the cancer, the outward symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include breathing and swallowing difficulty, loss of weight, constant coughing, chest congestion and pain, spitting blood, and fever. Detailed investigations reveal irregular thickening of pleura and fluid collection, reduced space between the lung lobes, and mineral deposits.

As you can see, most of these symptoms do not seem dangerous at first glance. But you should not ignore them. If your cough doesn’t go away and you can’t stop losing weight then you should have yourself checked by a doctor. Doctors can perform specific diagnostic exams using x-rays and ct scans to check whether or not you are suffering from.

Symptoms Asbestos Exposure : Know The Signs

The symptoms of Asbestos exposure is a "red flag" that should be immediately sent an individual straight to a physician if any symptoms are diagnosed. It is better if the physician is familiar with Asbestos disease, because the sooner that an asbestos disease is identified, the sooner the treatment will begin. This is particularly important for cancers caused by asbestos exposure.

Many studies reported that the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure is particularly hazardous. Smoking seems to increase the frequency and/or the rate of progression of asbestosis, possibly by preventing the efficient elimination of inhaled fibers from the airways. Smokers who are exposed to asbestos have a risk of developing lung cancer that is greater than the individual risks from asbestos and smoking added together.

Most asbestos exposure symptoms don't begin to manifest until 15-30 years after initial inhalation. With the lack of early warning signs, it makes that wait all the more dangerous. Normally, you won't even notice anything until the cancer has actually gotten to a life-threatening stage.

Short term exposure to asbestos may show up symptoms like, shortness of breath. In such cases, one can experience the short term asbestos exposure symptoms like, abdominal pain, chest pain and irritation of the skin and the mucus membrane, along with shortness of breath. Another symptoms can be spotted are :

• Shortness of breath, hoarseness or wheezing
• A persistent cough that gets worse over time, or a change in cough pattern
• Blood in the sputum (fluid) coughed up from the lungs
• Difficulty in breathing
  
• Pain in the abdomen
• Difficulty swallowing
• Unexplained weight loss
  
• Fatigue or anemia
• Crackling sound in the lungs during inhalation
• Swelling of the neck and/or face
• Loss of appetite
• Coughing up blood
• Wheezing
• Nausea

Having one or more of these symptoms does not mean that you have an asbestos related health problem, but it could be some other problem not related to Asbestos at all, but it is advisable to get it checked by your physician immediately.

You may be asked to get X-rays of the chest removed, or a CT scan done, or if the case is found to be of severe nature, a lung biopsy to detect the asbestos fibers could be performed.

Visiting the physician once you are aware of any symptoms of asbestos exposure could not just prolong, but possibly even save your life.

Asbestos Exposure : The working's man killer

As what have been written about Mesothelioma on the previous post, the most harmful cause is Asbestos. Asbestos is a natural fiber that has been used extensively in myriad industries for the last century.

Asbestos can be found in various sizes and shapes around the world.

It has three most common types : white asbestos (chrysotile), brown asbestos (armosite) and blue asbestos (corcidolite). All three of these silica have been associated with lung diseases - both non-cancerous as well as cancerous.

Asbestos is much used in the construction of many buildings and places of business. Asbestos is prized for its heat and flame resistance, soundproofing, and insulating properties, it also poses significant threats to human health. Unknowing workers worked in these structures each day not know that there was danger lurking in the walls and ceiling. The building and construction industry uses Asbestos for strengthening cement and plastics as well as for heat insulation, fireproofing, and sound absorption. The shipbuilding industry has used asbestos to insulate boilers, steam- pipes, hot water pipes, and nuclear reactors in ships.

Those who worked at any one of these jobsites were likely exposed to a number of asbestos-containing products and are now at risk of developing mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses. When people are exposed to asbestos then three different types of lung diseases can develop: 1) asbestosis; 2) lung cancer; and 3) disease of the pleura - the lining of the lung.

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